Israel Active

The black-faced bunting - an extremely small songbird weighing roughly just 17 grams, was sighted for only the second time in Israel. It normally resides in eastern Siberia, northern Mongolia north-eastern China and was some thousands of miles off course.

Selected nominees for this year’s Academy Awards received a gift bag worth $126,000 (if the recipient uses all the vouchers). One of the gifts was an Israeli Reflect Orb stress management device worth some $200.

Bank Hapoalim will once again be sponsoring over 170 sites and museums across Israel so citizens and visitors can visit them for free over Pesach 2023!  (Site list in Hebrew). Many other free events and workshops – see third link below.

The Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF-US) has created the Yerucham River Park. It flows from the Yerucham town’s lake – itself created from recycled and treated wastewater and purified rainwater. The River Park has become a popular recreational site for local residents and a magnet for birdlife.

Israel’s entry “Unicorn” by Noa Kirel was unveiled this week.  Noa remarked that she sees similarities between the Unicorn and Israel – both being very strong. (Ed – not sure of that connection!)

If you are in the UK on Sun 14th May, why not join Technion UK’s “From Israel With Love” event to celebrate Israel’s 75th birthday. Enjoy singers from Israel including the iconic Gali Atari who won the Eurovision with the song Hallelujah. Suitable for the whole family.

The Israel Animation Guild created a special stand at the Annecy Animation Festival in France to promote Israeli animation artists in the world. It included an installation inspired by Sacher Park in Jerusalem.

The Kviv Virtuosi troupe brings classical music to Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, Ness Ziona and Herzliya (Mar 4-10). They will perform works by Vivaldi, Grieg, De Falla and Isaac Albeniz. Also, Jewish Ukrainian composers including composer in residence Alexey Shor, who made Aliyah in 1991.

Israel’s Raz Hershko won gold in the 78kg women’s event at the Judo Grand Slam in Tel Aviv. The previous day, Israel’s Sagi Muki won the 81kg men’s event (see videos). Of the other Israelis, Tamar Malca won a silver and Timna Nelson Levy won a bronze.

Israel’s Manor Solomon scored twice in two games to earn consecutive wins for his UK Premier League soccer club Fulham. The Israeli midfielder is on loan from Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk. He escaped last year via Poland to Israel to evade the war in Ukraine.